Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to say small stories which
contained valuable life lessons. Here is a collection of stories of Sri Ramakrishna
containing important teachings.
Foolish Disciple
In a forest, there lived a holy man who had many disciples.
One day he taught them to see God in all beings and, knowing this, to bow low
before them all.
A disciple went to the forest to gather wood for the
sacrificial fire. Suddenly he heard an outcry: ‘Get out of the way! A mad
elephant is coming!’
All but the disciple of the holy man took to their heels. He
reasoned that the elephant was also God in another form. Then why should he run
away from it? He stood still, bowed before the animal, and began to sing its
praises.
The mahut of the elephant was shouting: ‘Run away! Run
away!’ But the disciple didn’t move. The animal seized him with its trunk, cast
him to one side, and went on its way.
Hurt and bruised, the disciple lay unconscious on the
ground. Hearing what had happened, his teacher and his brother disciples came
to him and carried him to the hermitage.
With the help of some medicine he soon regained
consciousness. Someone asked him, ‘You knew the elephant was coming—why didn’t
you leave the place?’ ‘But’, he said, ‘our teacher has told us that God Himself
has taken all these forms, of animals as well as men. Therefore, thinking it
was only the elephant God that was coming, I didn’t run away.’
At this the teacher said: ‘Yes, my child, it is true that
the elephant God was coming; but the mahut God forbid you to stay there. Since
all are manifestations of God, why didn’t you trust the mahut’s words? You
should have heeded the words of the mahut God.’
A story on the power of habit that keeps out truth
A group of fisherwoman who were on their way home from a
distant market was caught in heavy rain. So they took shelter in the home of a
flower seller. The florist opened the room where he used to stock his flowers
and asked the fisherwomen to take rest there at night and start their journey
early morning.
The room was filled with fragrance of various flowers and
this made the fisherwomen uncomfortable. None of them were able to sleep.
Then one fisherwoman came up with an idea that they should
sprinkle some water on their fish baskets so that it will generate foul smell
which will make them sleep.
All the other women agreed to the idea and they sprinkled
water on their fish baskets and kept it near their head and slept peacefully.
The fragrance of the flowers did not trouble them.
Such indeed is the power of influence and habit. The worldly
soul brought up in and accustomed to materialistic thoughts and surrounding
cannot breathe long in an atmosphere of purity and renunciation without feeling
restlessness and discomfort.
Sadhu with Occult Power – Story Told By Sri Ramakrishna
Once upon a time a sadhu acquired great occult powers. He
was confused about his powers. But he was a good man and had some
austerities to his credit. To help him one day God, disguised as a holy man,
came to him and said, ‘Revered sir, I have heard that you have great occult
powers.’
The sadhu received the Holy Man cordially and offered him a
seat. Just then an elephant passed by.
The Lord, in the disguise of the holy man, said to the
sadhu, ‘Revered sir, can you kill this elephant if you like?’ The sadhu said,
‘Yes, it is possible.’ So saying, he took a pinch of dust, muttered some
mantras over it, and threw it at the elephant. The beast struggled awhile in
pain and then dropped dead.
The Lord said: ‘What power you have! You have killed the
elephant!’ The sadhu laughed.
Again the Lord spoke: ‘Now can you revive the elephant?’
‘That too is possible’, replied the sadhu. He threw another pinch of charmed
dust at the beast. The elephant writhed about a little and came back to life.
Then the Lord said: ‘Wonderful is your power. But may I ask
you one thing? You have killed the elephant and you have revived it. But what
has that done for you? Do you feel uplifted by it? Has it enabled you to
realize God?’ Saying this Lord vanished.